Transferring awareness into action: A meta-analysis of the behavioral drivers of energy transitions in Germany, Austria, Finland, Morocco, Jordan and Iran

Abstract

Energy transition is a so-called wicked policy problem which requires involvement of stakeholders and laypeople. This support should go beyond social acceptance, which is a rather passive attitude, and should include social factors such as willingness to participate in energy transition and willingness to use renewable energy sources. However, moving from awareness to action is a complex process and requires understanding of social factors. Until recently scientific research was mainly focused on technical and economic factors of energy transition however the volume of scientific results published by social science energy research is growing. The focus of this paper is on how people are making choices and which factors are influencing their choices. Research based on social sciences and behavioral economics shows preferences and rationalities of people when it comes to the question of available in frames of energy transition alternatives. The results of this paper are based on large-scale surveys, decision-making experiments and interviews conducted in Germany, Austria, Finland, Morocco, Jordan and Iran. The results show high level of awareness about the need of climate change mitigation across countries, which is decreasing with the level of details about the projects or the energy transition processes. The results also show dominance of economic rationality with concerns about energy prices and socio-economic impacts from energy transition over other concerns such as environmental protection. Also, such factors as maintenance and reparation of technology and possibility to participate in decision-making processes have impact on willingness to support energy transition which goes beyond social acceptance.